Technical factors

a. Process flexibility
b. Continuous operation
c. Special controls involved
d. Commercial yields
e. Technical difficulties involved
f. Energy requirements
g. Special auxiliaries required
h. Possibility of future developments
i. Health and safety hazards involved
2. Raw materials
a. Present and future availability
b. Processing required
c. Storage requirements
d. Materials handling problems
3. Waste products and by-products
a. Amount produced
b. Value
c. Potential markets and uses
d. Manner of discard
e. Environmental aspects
Equipment
a. Availability
b. Materials of construction
c. Initial costs
d. Maintenance and installation costs
e. Replacement requirements
f. Special designs
Plant location
a. Amount of land required
b. Transportation facilities
c. Proximity to markets and raw-material sources
d. Availability of service and power facilities
e. Availability of labor
f. Climate
g. Legal restrictions and taxes
Costs
a. Raw materials
b. Energy
c. Depreciation
d. Other fixed charges
e. Processing and overhead
f. Special labor requirements
g. Real estate
h. Patent rights
i. Environmental controls
Time factor
a. Project completion deadline
b. Process development required
c. Market timeliness
d. Value of money
Process considerations
a. Technology availability
b. Raw materials common with other processes
c. Consistency of product within company
d. General company objectives
 PROCESS DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
DESIGN-PROJECT PROCEDURE
• The development of a design project always starts with an initial idea or
plan.
• This initial idea must be stated as clearly and concisely as possible in
order to define the scope of the project.
• General specifications and pertinent laboratory or chemical engineering
data should be presented along with the initial idea.
Types of Designs
• The methods for carrying out a design project may be divided into the
following classifications, depending on the accuracy and detail required:
1. Preliminary or quick-estimate designs
2. Detailed-estimate designs
3. Firm process designs or detailed designs
• Preliminary designs are ordinarily used as a basis for determining whether
further work should be done on the proposed process.
• The design is based on approximate process methods, and rough cost estimates
are prepared. Few details are included, and the time spent on calculations is kept
at a minimum.
• Detailed-estimate design In this type of design, the cost and-profit potential of
an established process is determined by detailed analyses and calculations.
However, exact specifications are not given for the equipment, and drafting-room
work is minimized.
• When the detailed-estimate design indicates that the proposed project should be
a commercial success, the final step before developing construction plans for the
plant is the preparation of a firm process design
• Following is a list of items that should be considered in
making a feasibility
survey:
1. Raw materials (availability, quantity, quality, cost)
2. Thermodynamics and kinetics of chemical reactions
involved (equilibrium, yields, rates, optimum conditions)
3. Facilities and equipment available at present
4. Facilities and equipment which must be purchased
5. Estimation of production costs and total investment
6. Profits (probable and optimum, per pound of product and
per year, return on investment)
7. Materials of construction
8. Safety considerations
9. Markets (present and future supply and demand, present uses, new uses,
present buying habits, price range for products and by-products, character,
location, and number of possible customers)
10. Competition (overall production statistics, comparison of various
manufacturing processes, product specifications of competitors)
11. Properties of products (chemical and physical properties, specifications,
impurities, effects of storage)
12. Sales and sales service (method of selling and distributing, advertising
required, technical services required)
13. Shipping restrictions and containers
14. Plant location
15. Patent situation and legal restrictions
• Equipment specifications are generally summarized in the form of
1. Columns (distillation). In addition to the number of plates and operating
conditions it is also necessary to specify the column diameter, materials of
construction, plate layout, etc.
2. Vessels. In addition to size, which is often dictated by the holdup time
desired, materials of construction and any packing or baffling should be
specified.
3. Reactors. Catalyst type and size, bed diameter and thickness, heat-
interchange facilities, cycle and regeneration arrangements, materials of
construction, etc., must be specified.
4. Heat exchangers and furnaces. Manufacturers are usually supplied with
the duty, corrected log mean-temperature difference, percent vaporized,
pressure drop desired, and materials of construction.
5. Pumps and compressors. Specify type, power requirement, pressure
difference, gravities, viscosities, and working pressures.
6. Instruments. Designate the function and any particular requirement.
7. Special equipment. Specifications for mechanical separators, mixers,
driers, etc.
The preliminary design and the process-development work gives the
results necessary for a detailed-estimate design. The following factors
should be established within narrow limits before a detailed-estimate
design is developed:

1. Manufacturing process
2. Material and energy balances
3. Temperature and pressure ranges
4. Raw-material and product specifications
5. Yields, reaction rates, and time cycles
6. Materials of construction
7. Utilities requirements
8. Plant site